


A Hurt Bird

by FearfulKitten



Series: Batman Bingo 2020 [16]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics), DCU, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Batman Bingo, Batman Bingo - Ice Cream, Blood, Blood and Injury, Concussions, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, F/M, First Meetings, He calls you angel bc I said so, Hurt Dick Grayson, Hurt/Comfort, I just want to care for him, Ice Cream, Implied Sexual Content, Injury, M/M, Mild Blood, Other, Reader-Insert, Self-Indulgent, Tags May Change, Taking Care of Dick Grayson, but it kind of looses that tone after the first chapter sooo, but shh you dont know that yet, i guess you can call it that, i'll add more as it goes on, its kind of inspired by that song called fire escape, maybe? idk, mentions of a shooting, please let me, that's it that's why I wrote the thing, very much so
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:14:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27164378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FearfulKitten/pseuds/FearfulKitten
Summary: "It was about three in the morning when you heard a loud sound coming from your window. Normally, those sounds wouldn’t trouble you, seen as you lived on the last floor of an old, relatively small residential building. Disoriented birds would crash into windows every now and again, but it was nothing to worry about. However, considering that most birds should be asleep by now, and that the sound came from the fire escape window, you got a little worried."Or: You find out just how broken the local hero really is. It's a good thing you don't mind fixing wings.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Reader, Dick Grayson/You
Series: Batman Bingo 2020 [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852759
Comments: 21
Kudos: 123





	1. Sprained Ankles and Ice Cream

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! This chapter was beta'd by @foxam-vampire on tumblr. Thank you friend!  
> Now, some more notes! I'm avoiding gendered terms on this, bc I wanted as many people as possible to be able to enjoy it. If that needs to change at any given time, I'll let you know in the notes.  
> There will be at least one nsfw chapter in this. I'll try my best to split it in a way that will make it easy for you to skip over it if you don't want to read that kind of stuff.  
> This fic mostly consists of random one-shots that are very much connected. It may grow forever or stop soon, depending on how much I feel the need to update it.  
> Also, this will mostly consist on the reader caring for Dick instead of the other way around, although that may happen too. If there's something you'd like to see in this, feel free to leave it in the comments or head over to my tumblr and leave me an ask!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this!

It was about three in the morning when you heard a loud sound coming from your window. Normally, those sounds wouldn’t trouble you, seen as you lived on the last floor of an old, relatively small residential building. Disoriented birds would crash into windows every now and again, but it was nothing to worry about. However, considering that most birds should be asleep by now, and that the sound came from the fire escape window, you got a little worried.

In your recently-awoken, adrenaline-filled mind, picking up a broom for protection and investigating the noise instead of calling the police and locking yourself up in the bathroom seemed like a very good idea, so you did just that. As you got closer, you heard annoyed mumbles.

“Stupid lose brick.” A man’s voice said “Fucking fell like an idiot, Jesus Christ. I feel like a damn teenager again.” He hisses, seemingly in pain. You held your breath for a second. He grumbled something you couldn’t quite get, sitting on the floor.

Suddenly, you pushed the window open and swatted at him with the broom, causing him to scream in surprise and you in fear.

“Wait, wait, stop!” He said, trying to evade your hits and yell louder than you “I’m not here to rob you!”

“Y-you’re not?” You stop, finally taking a better look at the stranger “Wait. Are you...”

“Nightwing, yeah.” He smiles. There was a cut in his lower lip and a little bit of blood tainting his teeth “Sorry for disturbing you, I’ll be on my wa-Ah!” He attempts to get up, hissing in pain as he tries to support his weight on his right leg.

“You’re hurt.”

“Yeah, it happens a lot.” He jokes in a strangled voice, holding on to the metal handrail.

“Come in, I’ll get you some ice.” You say, giving him some space.

“You don’t have to, I’ll be fine.” He waved you off.

“Yeah, but I want to.” You shoot back “Besides, I hit you with a broom several times, so I’ll feel really bad if you don’t let me help.”

“You really shouldn’t be inviting strange men into your house in the middle of the night.” He raises an eyebrow.

“You’re not just a strange man.” You argued, tilting your head from side to side lightly “You’re our hero.”

“But you don’t know me.” He lets his head drop down a little, cocky smirk on his face. You rolled your eyes.

“I’m helping you. Like you help us. Let me, okay?” You motioned for him to come in “I have ice, and water, and food.” He stares at you hesitantly “C’mon.” You say, a little impatient.

“Alright then, if you insist.” He caved in, accepting your help to climb into the house. You wrapped his arm around your shoulder and supported him, holding him by his waist, walking with him to the couch.

“You’re – ugh – heavier than you look.” You grunt. He huffed a laugh.

“Maybe you’re just weaker than you think you are.”

“I just woke up, give me a break.” You roll your eyes, setting him down on your old couch “Besides, you  _ are _ thin, but you’re also a mountain of muscles. That makes you heavy.”

“My friends can carry me.” He teases.

“Are your friends heroes too?” You ask, taking the ice tray out of the freezer and cracking the cubes into a towel.

“Touché.” He laughs.

You kneeled down, bringing the ice with you, and slowly attempting to remove his boots.

“You don’t have to.” He says, trying to reach down. You put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“Let me.” You stared at his eyes, or at least tried to; they are being covered by the mask, making it impossible for you to see the color under that abnormal white screen blocking them.

“They’ll smell bad.”

“Yeah, it’s a thing that happens with feet.” You shoot back, rolling your eyes “I’m used to it, don’t worry. My friend used to sprain her ankle a lot while running. Now shut up, sit back, and let me help, okay?” Nightwing seemed a little taken aback by that, cheeks assuming a light pink hue as he leaned back against the couch, slowly.

His ankle was swollen, but it still hadn’t turned purple. You delicately pressed the ice against his skin, and noticed how he grimaced.

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay.” He answers “There’s no way of doing this without a bit of pain anyways. You’re very gentle.”

“That’s good to hear.” You smile, pressing your lips together as you stare at his injured foot “So, uhm, what about your mouth?”

“My mouth?” He asks.

“Yeah.” You look up “There’s blood on your teeth.” He brought his hand to his lips slowly “You... Do know that there’s blood on your teeth, right?”

“Yeah.” He answers, staring at the blood on the tips of his gloved fingers “Yeah, sure. I did know that. I was... aware. Of the blood, that is. I did know of blood on my teeth.”

“You had no clue, did you?”

“I had no clue.” He whispers, lowering his head.

“But didn’t you... I don’t know, can’t you taste it?” You ask.

“I can. It’s just that it lingers for quite a while, to be honest. I thought it had stopped, but apparently there’s another cut on my mouth, or maybe a loose tooth.” His tongue searched around a little “Yup, found it.” He says, words kind of mumbled because of the position his tongue was in “Definitely a loose tooth.” He grimaces “Man, those suck.”

“Uhm... Do you want some ice, maybe? I have more.”

“I...” He ponders on it for a moment “Yeah, actually. If it’s not too much trouble.” He places a hand at the right side of his cheek “It’s starting to hurt more now that I’m aware of it.”

You nod, trying to balance the ice pack on top of his ankle.

“Leave it.” He says “Can I put my feet on your couch?”

“Sure.” You got up as he turned to the side, stretching his left leg out and pulling the right one a little closer so he could hold the ice pack in place.

You picked the other ice tray and repeated the process, filling both of the trays and placing them in the freezer before going back to the hero. You handed Nightwing the ice pack and went back to the kitchen to get him a glass of water. When you came back again, he pulled his left leg closer, giving you space on the couch.

“Thank you.” He says after emptying the glass.

“No problem.” You smile “Give it here.” You used two fingers to ask for the ice pack back.

“It’s okay, I’ve got it.”

“C’mon. It’s better for your leg to be stretched out.” You insist, tapping your thighs.

“You’re very stubborn, aren’t you?” He teases.

“Yes, I am, now give me the damn ice pack, hero.” You stretch out your hand. He placed the wet towel-ice pack in your hand and his feet on your lap “Was that so hard?” You tease. He stuck out his tongue.

“Very.”

“Awn, you poor thing.” You sarcastically add “Being made to suffer by a civilian tending to your battle wounds.” He chuckles.

“Why are you being so nice?”

“Why shouldn’t I?” You shrug “You saved my life.”

“Did I?” He raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah. A while ago, when that shooter walked into the subway station? I was there.” You look down at his feet again as you nervously bite the inside of your lips “I was scared shitless. And then you came in, swinging through the stairs, and knocked him out so fast.” You swallow “So yeah. Thank you for that.”

“I was just doing my job.” He smiles, face leaning into the ice pack pressed against his cheek.

“I guess.” You whisper. He nods “You don’t normally get too much help, do you?”

“Not so much.” He purses his lips “Working and living alone have their downsides.”

“Yeah...” You look at him for a moment.

The hero seemed more battered and bruised than you ever thought he could be. Before tonight, you couldn’t even be sure that he was human, but now, watching him talk and walk (well, limp), he barely seemed like a masked vigilante. He looked like a lonely guy. Before you realized it, your thumb was drawing slow circles on his clothed leg. You weren’t even sure if he could feel them under the material, but the way that he stared at your fingers made you believe he could.

“Okay, uhm, would you like something to eat?” You offer “I have some chinese food that I ordered earlier, but I don’t know if your mouth is in a chewing mood.” He laughs again.

“Yeah, I don’t think my mouth is in a chewing mood.” He smiles “It’s okay.”

“Well, I do have ice cream. If you want any.”

“Really?” His face seems to light up a little “What flavor?”

“Chocolate. Want some?”

“Uuuh, yes, please!” He smiles, removing his legs so you could get up from the couch “Listen, I don’t want to sound like a child, but, do you have any sprinkles? I really like them.”

“Sadly, no. I don’t really like sprinkles. But I do have caramel syrup.”

“Caramel syrup with chocolate ice cream?” He makes a weird face.

“It’s good!” You try to defend yourself.

“I’ve never heard of that.”

“Look, you can try some of mine, and if you like it I’ll put it on yours, okay?”

“Sounds good.”

“Alright then, wait here.” You went to the kitchen yet again, looking for cute bowls to put the ice cream in, unfortunately realizing you only had one old, glass bowl, sometimes used for soup “Well, shit.” You murmur in embarrassment, picking up your wide coffee mug for yourself and the bowl for him. You took both of them and the syrup to the living room “Here.” You hand it to him, sitting down again.

“Thanks!” He grins, watching as you poured the caramel on your mug “You’re eating it out of a mug?”

“I don’t have any other bowls.” You murmur, ashamed.

“Oh, I see.” He says, looking at your lowered face “Hey, that’s fine. I mean, I have only one mug and three spoons at my place.” You chuckle a bit.

“So we’re both broke loners, huh?” You ask, handing him the mug “Here, try it.”

He took it, picking some up with his spoon.

“Hum, that’s good.” He hands it back to you “And yeah, guess so.”

“Told you.” You pass him the bottle, letting him pour as much as he wants in his ice cream “So, uhm, what will you do about the tooth?”

“I’ll try to see my dentist tomorrow.” He answers.

“Isn’t it a bit suspicious? I mean, I imagine this happens a lot.”

“Well, I usually say it happened while I was practicing my acrobatics.”

“So you’re an acrobat?” You raise your eyebrows.

“I thought that much was obvious. You know, with all the spins and impressive sky stuff.” He smirks. You giggle and nod “Awn, that’s a pretty laugh.”

“Oh, shut up.” You blush, staring at his feet again.

“I wasn’t teasing you. You do have a pretty laugh.”

“Thanks. You have a pretty laugh too. And your feet don’t smell thaaaat bad.” You tease, causing him to snort.

“Okay then. I suppose that is one of the most sincere compliments I’ve ever been given.” Both of you laugh for a while, before finishing your ice creams in silence.

You set your mug down, noticing how the ice had melted almost entirely, leaving a very soaked towel on his foot. When you motioned to leave, you noticed him trying to stop you.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to take these to the kitchen. It’s all melted now.”

He pouts.

“But I like you here.”

“I’ll come back, Nightwing.” You laugh.

“Alright.” He lifts his legs.

“Is there ice left on the one in your cheek?”

“This one is alright.” He replies “Thanks.”

“No worries.” You rush out, putting the bowl and the mug in the sink, along with the wet towel, before coming back “See? I’m here.” You lift your hands, showing off playfully.

“That’s nice.” He turns around as you settle on the couch, catching you off guard as he places his head on your lap “Hi.” He grinned, white teeth showing.

“Ooookay...” You said, a little startled, but smiling. You placed your hand on his head, playing with his hair.

“Hmm, yeah. That’s great.” He closed his eyes, sighting “You must be an angel. So kind, so helpful... Gives the best head scratches...”

You huffed out a laugh.

“Well, I’m glad you like them, you needy boy.”

“Hey! I’m an attention-seeking whore, and a  _ man _ , get it right angel.” He smiles.

“Makes sense.” You raise your eyebrows, watching him melt under your touch, breathing deeply “Listen, if you want to crash here for the night, that’s okay.”

“Oh. No.” He says “I should go.” He gets up, and the sudden lack of warmth scares you a little.

“I wasn’t kicking you out or...” You turn on the couch, facing him.

“No, I know!” He smiles extending his hands “I just shouldn’t take advantage of your kindness.” Nightwing looked down, hands behind his back.

“You’re not taking advantage of anything, hero.” You support the weight of your head on your elbow.

“Really?” He asks, a little cynical “What do you get from all of this?”

“It’s not about what I get.” You roll your eyes “It’s about what I’m willing to give.” He raises an eyebrow “You help people, right? People like me, my friends, my family... So you should get it.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You help because you can. Because you know you can’t keep waiting for something magical to happen and eradicate all human suffering from the earth. You  _ can _ save people, so you  _ do _ . Right now, I  _ can _ help you, so,” You shrugged “I do.”

“Yeah, alright.” He scratches the back at his neck “Still, I feel like I’m acting a little too...” He gestures towards your lap “Friendly.”

“That’s not a problem.” You chuckle a little, and he does too. You bite your lower lip “You sure you don’t want to spend the night here? The couch turns into a bed, and it’s more comfortable than it looks.”

“No, it’s fine.” He smiles at you “But thanks for the offer.” He stands up “I can already walk again, so I’ll be on my way.”

You followed him to the fire escape, watching as he picked up his grapple gun.

“So, uhm, listen...” You start, hugging yourself to try and keep the cold wind out “When it gets too hard... you know, being a loner. You can come here again. If you want to.” He looked at you for a moment, and his features seemed to soften as you spoke “You don’t have to care for your wounds by yourself, if you don’t want to.”

“Thank you.” He smiles “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Nightwing leaped from the metal staircase towards the ground, before surging up, holding on to the grapple gun, swinging his body forward and falling again, then going up, and down, and up, until he was too far to be seen. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Hope you liked this. Once again, thank you @foxham-vampire, you did an amazing job and I love u <3  
> If you liked this, consider following me on tumblr, @fearfulkittenwrites, or @fearful-kitten01. Request me something or go say hi! I love meeting people!  
> As always, stay safe and healthy out there. Ily <3


	2. Pain and danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your bird took a very big hit tonight. Helping him back on his feet this time around might be a little difficult, but mama didn't raise a quitter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So. This chapter... might be rougher than the last one. I didn't edit it properly, bc for some reason I just... couldn't. I haven't been posting in a while and decided that i'd try to kick it back in action with this chapter, bc it's something I wrote some time ago and had been meaning to post next anyway. So please bare with me, and be kind in the comments if there are any weird sentences or something like that.  
> Regardless, I hope you'll enjoy it! Thank you for clicking on it.

At around five in the morning, you were once again woken up by a loud thump coming from your fire escape. This time, however, you heard your first name being called, and you already knew who was on the other side. Sliding quickly out of bed, you pulled your window open to find Nightwing sitting on the metal floor, out of breath and very bloodied.

“Hey.” He said, voice tired and breathing shallow, “I really hope you meant what you said last time.”

“Oh my God.” You covered your mouth with your hand, climbing out of the window to help him up. Once again you supported his weight with your shoulders, with a little more effort due to his awful state. He coughed a little as you sat him down on a kitchen chair.

“No couch this time?” He smiles, even though he’s clearly too tired and weak to give the teasing it’s usual bite.

“Not before I clean you up and make sure you’re not falling asleep the moment I make you comfortable.” You searched under the sink for your medical kit, placing it on the table as you ran to the bathroom to get some towels “Tell me what happened.” You ask, searching his head for any obvious and serious injuries.

“There was a trap.” He coughed again, spitting up blood “I... Too many of them. Very well trained. I was-” Another coughing fit interrupted his words “Too cocky.”

“I actually believe that.” You tease, both of you laughing “Okay, look, I think you might have had a concussion. I need to take you to a hospital so they can monitor you, this-.”

“No.” He cuts you off, grabbing your wrist “No hospitals. Just keep me awake until I can move again.”

“What are you...”

“I have a friend.” He coughs some more “He has resources to help me, I just need to be able to get to him.”

“I- I can take you there. If you just-.”

“No.” He says, in a serious tone “I just need to catch my breath.”

“Okay.” You say, heart racing “Okay. Please let go of me now.”

“I’m... sorry.” He loosens his grip, letting you go and looking down.

“It’s okay. I’m fine. Let me clean this blood, okay?” You say, rubbing the wrist he grabbed as Nightwing nodded.

You wet a small towel, delicately pressing it against his face, rubbing a little to clean the blood running down his forehead and cheeks. Most of it was already dry, injuries already starting to heal, but there was a small cut on his forehead, right above his mask, that was still dripping. You pressed on it with a dry cloth after you cleaned his face as well as you could, trying to get it to stop.

“How do you even...” His breathing seemed to be slowly recovering, but he still coughs a bit before speaking “Know how to do this?”

“I have my secrets, Nightwing.” You smile softly at him, removing the cloth from his face. Once again, you swept through with the wet one, trying to get all of the red and brown off his face.

“Are you a nurse?”

“No.” You giggle “I just... let’s just say my brother is not an easy person. I used to patch him up all the time growing up. The first aid kit is mostly for when he needs help after getting into a fight.”

“A street brawler, huh?”

“Yeah.” You answer, wetting another towel to clean around the cut on his stomach “Can I?” You asked, and he nodded.

“Is he any good?”

“No.” You snort “Quite the opposite.” He hissed in pain as you cleaned around the wound “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He replied, grimacing “The adrenaline is starting to drop, so everything is hurting more.”

“I see. I think I may have some painkillers, let me get them for you.” You got up and walked to your medicine box, taking your paracetamol pills out and handing them to him.

“Wait. I think I’m gonna...” He breathes deeply, trying to get up but losing his balance quickly.

You read the signs fast, and handed him a plastic bag quickly. He emptied his stomach in it, and you gently rubbed his back through it. Taking the bag away from him with a grossed look, you tied a knot on it, tossing it on the garbage can, figuring you’d worry about it later.

“Sorry...” He mumbles.

“Don’t be.” You picked up two glasses, filling one with water and leaving the other empty “Here. Take a sip, clean your mouth, spit it here. Then drink the rest of the water with the medicine, okay?” He nods, doing what you told him to. You left the cups on the sink, going back to his stomach. The cuts seemed superficial enough, and it had mostly stopped bleeding. His uniform must have taken a lot of the damage.

You pushed him forward a little, examining his back. Nothing seemed to be too serious, so you set him back down against the chair.

“Okay. You’re doing so well Nightwing.” You praised in a whisper “I just need you to keep talking to me, alright?”

“Yeah, okay.” His breathing was almost back to normal again, and you searched his scalp for any cuts once more.

“This is weird. There’s a lot of blood on your hair, but I can’t find a cut.” You whisper, still delicately moving your fingers through his hair.

“That’s because it’s not my blood.”

“Oh.” You removed your hands “Okay.” He huffed a small laugh at your reaction “What? Is this funny?”

“A little, yes.” He answers.

You turned around to get the gel ice pack you bought after his last visit, pressing it on his head.

“Oh, you bought a proper ice pack, huh?” He asks, taking it on his hands.

“Figured it could come in handy.” You smirk “You know, just in case another bloodied masked crime fighter decided to come by.”

He gasped in an exaggerated manner.

“You’ve been cheating on me?” He asks, with a fake exasperation “Who is it? No, don't tell me, I don’t want to know.”

You laughed.

“How can you joke so much at a moment like this?” You ask, pulling a chair and sitting across from him.

“I mean, I have to keep myself sane somehow.” Nightwing shrugs.

“I see.” You stared at him for a while “Let me get a band-aid for that cut. Also, I can give you stitches on your stomach, if you’re comfortable with it.”

“Oh. Yeah, that’s fine. Thank you.”

You rummaged through your medicine box.

“Oh, shoot.” You murmur.

“What is it?” He looked up.

“Um... I only have Hello Kitty band-aids.” You turn around, grimacing as you hold up the box.

“Because they are cheaper?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He laughs “I buy those too. When you need them as often as I do, you can’t really be too picky.”

“I guess not.” You smiled, picking up an antiseptic spray “Close your...” You squinted, looking at the mask “Or not. I keep forgetting you wear this thing.” He smiled as you sprayed his skin and then placed the band-aid on the cut “There. Look, if it’s not too... forward of me,” You rolled your eyes, a stupid smile on your lips “Is it okay if I ask you to take off your top and step into the shower? I kinda need to clean this a little better.”

“Oh. Okay. But I’ll need some help getting there.” He says.

Once again, you wrapped an arm around his waist and allowed him to support his weight on you. Setting him down on the shower floor, you realized you couldn’t simply turn on your shower and spray his entire body with water.

“Uhm, wait here.” You rushed out of the bathroom, coming back with a big bucket and a cup.

“What are those for?” He frowns.

“Cleaning you.” You explain, filling the bucket on the sink, hoping it would come out warm enough “Trust me, I’ve done this a couple of times.”

“Have you?” He raises an eyebrow.

“I did something similar.” You tried “I mean... it’s better than nothing, right?”

“I guess.” He says “Um... I’m gonna take it off now. If that’s okay.” He pointed at his shirt.

“Oh, yeah, go ahead.” You turned around slightly, taking your gaze away from his body and back to the bucket, trying to give him some privacy. When you glanced back his shirt was already off and your eyes widened.

“What?” He laughed at your reaction.

“I... I didn’t think a torso could get this bruised.” Your heart swelled at the sight; Nightwing had his head resting against the wall, mouth slightly open as he breathed. He had bruises all over his body; some were a bright shade of red, probably from tonight, some were in a deep blackish purple, and some were already taking on a more yellow tone.

“I mean... there really isn’t much I can do to avoid it.”

“No, I know, I wasn’t... making fun.” You kneeled next to him, bringing the bucket and cup with you “I... it’s a little scary, that’s all.” You swallow harshly, hands a little shaky as you pick up some water from the bucket “I’ll try to be gentle and quick, but... I think it’s gonna hurt anyways.”

“That’s fine.” He whispers, noticing your nervousness “Hey, you don’t have to do this.”

“No, no, I do.” You answer, taking a deep breath.

“I’m not your responsibility.” He takes your hand, making you look at his face again.

“No, but you asked for my help.” You say, determination taking over you once again “So I’ll help.” You give him a small squeeze to his fingers before letting go.

Using the cup, you poured some water over his stomach, making him hiss.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

You gently applied soap around the wound, cleaning off the blood that had stuck to his skin before washing it off once again. As you gave him stitches, he grimaced, clenching his fists.

“Do not apologize again.” He cuts you off as you open your mouth “You’re doing nothing wrong.” You nodded, focusing on the wound again.

After finishing it up, you covered it in antiseptic and bandages.

“Okay. That’s it.” You looked at his face again “Who is this friend of yours that can help you?”

“Batman.”

You blinked.

“From Gotham?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re friends with the Bat of Gotham?”

“Is that so hard to believe?” He raises his eyebrows.

“A little, yes.”

“I- Why?” He asks, a little offended.

“Because,” You sigh “You two seem so different. Also, he’s so scary. I didn’t think he had any friends.”

He huffed out a laugh.

“He’s a bit of an asshole sometimes, but he’s...” He trailed off “I mean, he trained me, so...”

“Wait, he trained you?” You ask “So are those theories true? Were you Robin?”

He makes a face.

“Yeah. Not like you were supposed to know that.”

“I won’t tell.” You smile “This is awesome. You used to be Robin? Oh my God, it makes so much sense now.”

“What? What makes so much sense?” He asks, taken aback.

“I...” You grin at the floor, shaking your head “After last time, I... I may have researched you, a little?”

“Oh no...” He rubbed at his forehead.

“No, it was fun.” You laughed a little “You have so many fans. But um, I did come across some theories.”

“About what?”

“The Robin thing.” You shrug “Honestly, most of it seemed like it was a stretch. They analyzed your accent from the little recordings they could get, pointing out that you clearly weren’t from Gotham, trying to support the theory that you were from Blüd and just going through an internship of sorts. Some of them talked about your butt, for some reason? I don’t know how someone could feel okay while zooming in on a child’s butt though.”

“They talked about my butt?” He asks “Jesus, what’s wrong with people?”

“Right?”

“I mean, I know it looks real nice now, but my prepubescent butt was a talking point?” He shuddered “Weird.”

“Yeah.” You laughed “I have to ask though, why no pants? Because there are a lot of theories about Batman being a pedo.” Nightwing groaned and shoved his face in his hands.

“I don’t know, okay? I was nine, it made sense at the time.” You laugh at his response “Look, these fabrics weren’t as stretchy back then. The pants he had designed for me were too constrictive. I needed to be able to move, jump, do splits. Batman takes punches, I evade them.”

“So you just decided to go into battle with your undies?”

“They weren’t- I was  _ nine _ !” He says, exasperated “My little child brain didn’t see any harm in it, okay? And Batman had no clue on how to say no to a kid, so that happened.”

“Okay, but when you got older, why didn’t you change your uniform?”

“It was a brand at that point, I couldn’t just- Oh, fuck off.” He pushed your face away as you laughed at him.

“Alright, alright, I won’t question it any further.” You giggled. As you watched him, an idea passed through your mind. You bit your lower lip for a second, and felt his gaze on your mouth “Let me wash your hair.” You ask.

“Huh?” He murmured, frowning a little “Why?”

“Because,” You tilted your head to the side “It’s full of blood. And I know that you like having someone give you a head scratch, so...” You shrug “Why not?”

“It will get your clothes wet.” He says.

“I’ll have to change soon anyways.” You smile “C’mon. Turn around. I’ll be gentle.”

“Okay.” Nightwing turned his back to you, tilting his head back slightly.

You picked up more water with the cup, wetting his hair. A brown and redish water dripped down his torso, bringing your attention to the scars he had there, small white lines, scattered through his tanned skin. You slowly massaged the shampoo through his hair, being extra gentle as to not bring him any extra pain. He sighed, nearly melting under your touch.

“You’re not very used to this, are you?” You whisper.

“To what?” He whispers back.

“Being taken care of.” He didn’t answer “But that’s okay. I’m taking care of you now.”

“You are.” He says, in a weak voice “Like an angel.” You heard him breathing “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” You say “In a way, we’re both angels.” You smiled.

“Yeah?” He asks, voice a little lighter again “How come?”

“Well, you’re Blüd’s oficial guardian angel, right?” You answer “Protecting all of us. Protecting me.” You smiled a little at the notion of Nightwing protecting  _ you _ , especifically “And I can’t protect you, but you insist that I’m an angel so...”

“Yeah, well, you protect me too. In a way.” He shrugs.

“I guess.” You wash the shampoo off his hair, washing as the red tainted foam went down the drain.

You got up to get him a towel, and so did he. You stood on your tiptoes, ducking his hand to dry his hair a little.

“Wait, you don’t have to-”

“We’ve been over this already.” You say, ruffling his hair a little with the towel, before moving to pat his back dry too “I want to.” You moved back to face him, towel drying around his ears. He blushed “Aw, that’s cute, you’re embarrassed.” You tease.

“You’re really close.” He says, clearing his throat.

You stepped away, smirk on your face.

“You didn’t seem to mind that so much when you laid down on my lap.”

“Yeah, well, maybe I shouldn’t have done that either.” He almost murmured the words, looking down. You felt a knife go through your heart at that “Look, thank you for... everything. But I need to go now, I’m already standing up properly so... I’ll be on my way.” He picked up his bloodied shirt, pulling it back on.

“Are you sure you-”

“I’m fine.” He cuts you off, moving to the window he came in through “Thank you once again. For everything.” He left, not giving you a chance to answer.

“Sure...” You whisper to an empty apartment “You’re welcome.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So, if you liked this, maybe consider following me on tumblr? You can send requests or come say hi, @fearfulkittenwrites. My personal blog is @fearful-kitten01, but it's quite the mess over there, hahahaha!  
> Thank you for reading, stay safe and healthy out there <3


	3. Old Wounds And A New Guy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your bird didn't come back. Time to move on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! Hope you all enjoy it <3

It had been three months since that last visit. Three months of no more Nightwing, no more news from him, not even a hello. At first you were sad. A piece of you really wanted to see him, make sure he was okay, patch up any of his wounds, maybe feed him a little and... talk.

Then you felt stupid. Stupid, because you were falling for a man whose name you don’t know. You’ve never even seen his eyes. The only things you knew about his personal life was that he lived alone, and had a very limited amount of cutlery at his place. Why were you so stupid as to believe that he’d ever want anything more than just bandages and ice from you? How was your perfectly capable, functioning brain, able to convince you that a vigilante could have any interest in you, a civilian?

And then, obviously, you felt angry. Angry, because how dare him? How dare he appear in your fire escape, beaten and bloodied, then throw up in your kitchen, let you give him stitches and wash his hair, and then not even show up to say that he’s fine? He should be sending you fruit baskets and buying you overly expensive brunch treats. And no, he wasn’t dead, because the bastard had been seen jumping through Blüd’s rooftops multiple times since your last encounter.

So you did what you should have done a long time ago; you moved on. A friend had set you up with a guy who was a friend of a friend of hers, or something along those lines. What truly mattered was that he was a handsome man, that took you out to a nice place and whose charm dragged you to his bed on your first date, and right now, as you blinked yourself awake, staring at his sleeping face, you made an effort to remember his name. His face looked oddly familiar, but you couldn’t quite put your finger on what made you feel that way.

“What are you looking at, hm?” He whispered, an amused smile plastered on his lips as he slowly opened his bright blue eyes.

“Nothing.” You answered, fingers lightly tracing his cheekbones “You have a scar here.” You point out, tracing a faded white line right below his eyes “How did that end up there?”

“Well, I do get punched a lot.” He laughed, voice raspy “I’m a cop after all, and with this new drug craze in Blüd...” He shook his head slightly “A lot of junkies trash around when being detained.”

“I see.” You kept tracing his scar when his name suddenly came back to you. Richard. That was most likely it. You were 90% sure “I’m gonna go grab myself a cup of water, okay?” You said “Want me to bring you one?”

“No, I’m fine.” He nuzzled into his pillow “I’ll catch up to you in a second, m’kay?”

“Sure.” You huffed out a little laugh, stretching on your way to the kitchen.

You opened up one cabinet, getting on your tiptoes to reach for a glass (seriously, what kind of monster puts the everyday glasses on such a high shelf? Richard, apparently), but your gaze soon fell down to his Superman mug, sitting lonely in the lowest part of his cabinet. You bit your lips as you filled the glass with water.

After you were done with your drink, you thought for a second, trying to ignore the sudden gut feeling that took over your body.

“It’s none of my business.” You whispered to yourself.

Still, your hands wandered back into the cabinet, opening it to stare at the mug once again.

_ “My friends can carry me.” _

_ “Are your friends heroes too?” _

You shake your head, trying to convince yourself that you were just seeing signs that didn’t exist because you wish they were there. Your hands wandered to the cutlery drawer, directly under the cabinet you were staring at, convincing yourself that you were simply snooping around, like every single one night stand does, not looking for evidence.

Slowly, you pulled it open, reaching inside and pulling out his spoons.

Three spoons.

_ “Hey, that’s fine. I mean, I have only one mug and three spoons at my place.” _

Your breathing accelerated as you placed them on top of the balcony.

“Oh my God.” You whispered, hand covering your mouth.

“What was that, beautiful?” He asked, going into the kitchen with nothing but his underwear and a robe.

You were ready to say ‘nothing’ and forget all about this stupid theory. But his robe was open, giving you a full view of his stomach and the scar he had there. On the exact same spot you had given Nightwing sutures three months ago. And the moment you laid eyes on him, he could tell that you knew.

“ _ You. _ ” You growled out, angry.

“I can explain...” He started, putting his hands up.

“Three months. Three fucking months and you didn’t even say hi?” You said, walking towards him “And then you take me out on a date so that you can take me to bed then leave me again?” Neither of you said anything for a while, your heavy breathing plaguing the apartment “Was it your idea?”

“What?” He asks.

“ _ Was it your idea _ . The date. Was it? Did you set this up too?” You took your hands up to press the sides of your head “ _ Ugh _ , I’m  _ such _ an idiot.”

“No! No, this was a coincidence, I swear.” He said, walking to you “I didn’t plan for any of this to happen. I didn’t even want to go on the date, but when I saw it was you, I...”

“You realized I was an easy target? That you’d know just how to manipulate me? Know what to say so I’d put out on the first night?”

“No! No, God no.” He corrected, taking one of your hands “I couldn’t leave, because I missed you. I wanted to talk to you again.”

“Yeah, sure.” You spat the words out, not sure if they hurt you or him the most.

“You think I’m lying?” He asked, sounding heartbroken.

“If you missed me, why didn’t you go see me again?” You asked “Did you forget where I live after the concussion?”

“I- No. No, of course not.” He shook his head, sighting “I couldn’t go because Batman told me to stay away.”

“What?” You asked, skeptical “Why would Batman care about what you do, or who you see?”

“It’s complicated.” He said.

“I have time.”

“Listen, I can’t explain everything, but the point is, he was right, okay? I mess with dangerous people. If they see Nightwing getting attached to a civilian, what do you think they’d do to you?” His face was more sad than serious, and you tried your best to hold his eye contact “So after that night, I was convinced that I should let you go. That I shouldn’t keep putting such a nice person in harm's way. But trust me, it wasn’t an easy decision to make. I really liked you, my angel. So, when I had a chance to meet you as Dick Grayson instead, well... can you really blame me for taking it?”

You swallowed. He was close. Really close.

“No.” You whispered “But I feel a little... used.”

“I promise you, that’s not something that was on my mind, okay?” He said “I just... I really wanted to talk to you one more time. Of course, the moment we stepped into my apartment, I knew that there wasn’t much of a chance that this would last. I’d have to explain, eventually, and that would probably lead to you leaving.” He sighed “So I don’t blame you if you do.”

You bit your lower lip, arms crossed in front of you. He looked just like he did the first time you met him; like a battered, bruised, lonely man. And his bright blues eyes, staring at you, filled with sadness and fear, they would never let you leave. So you stepped a little closer.

“I’m not leaving.” You took a deep breath, stepping even closer to him “I’m willing to give this a shot.” You said “Whatever this is. But there are a couple of... rules, if you will, that I need to set.” He raised an eyebrow “First rule is; you can’t answer everything with ‘the less you know the better’, like they do in the movies. That won’t cut it for me.”

“Noted.” He smiled a little.

“And second... you have to let me help you.” You ran your hands down his chest as you spoke “You have to let me tend to your wounds when you come back from patrol. You have to come to me when you need to catch your breath. You have to let me help you, Dick Grayson. Or so help me God, I’ll find Batman myself and tell him you disobeyed his orders.”

“He’ll find out in a week or two anyways.” He shrugged, smiling playfully “Can’t really lie to the best detective in the world.” He placed his hands on your hips.

“Well, what can I threaten you with then?” You giggled.

“You can’t.” He giggled too “I won’t feel threatened by a civilian who insists on tending to my battle wounds.”

“You jerk, stop using my own lines against me.”


End file.
